Whatever happened to the English hooligans? Bill Buford's best selling book, "Among the Thugs," published in 1991, became the standard text for outsiders looking at English soccer hooliganism - the "English disease," as it was known. Consider it a literary anarchy in the U.K. - riotous mobs, vandalism and eyeballs being sucked out of sockets.

English soccer clubs dealt with the hooligan crisis by building all-seated stadiums - it is hard to stampede when seats block the mob's path. They coupled this to effective policing and ticket price hikes beyond affordability for the working class, a traditional breeding ground for hooligan culture.

Beyond stadiums, some explained the reduction in violence on the popularity of the late 1980s rave music scene. Fighting on ecstasy was impossible; soccer's lager louts gave up beer and punches for hugs.

Dougie Brimson knows the hooligan life from the inside. He is the author of several books on the subject. He wrote the screenplay for the 2005 movie "Green Street Hooligans." The flick starred Elijah Wood, popularly known as Frodo Baggins in the "Lord of the Rings" movies - from a rustic life in the shire to running with the hooligan crew of London club West Ham United.

"Hooliganism is an evolutionary beast which is primarily driven by the impact of law and order," Brimson said in an e-mail. "Since the mid-'80s, the police have been afforded increasing amounts of both legislation and power which have resulted in an almost total suppression of violence inside our soccer stadia.

"However, nothing has ever been done to address the culture of hate, which is the primary fuel of the hooligan culture, and that is as evident inside soccer grounds as it ever has been. The result being that we have, in effect, a nonviolent hooligan culture."

Recent events in Europe illustrate this "culture of hate." A supporters group of top Russian team FC Zenit St Petersburg issued a statement saying black players and gays would never be welcome playing there; last week in Italy, AC Milan's players walked off the field when their black players were racially abused; last year, West Ham United fans chanted vile Holocaust taunts at Tottenham supporters (the Spurs have a large Jewish following).

"One of the primary reasons why hooliganism continues to infect soccer is because people on the outside of the culture do not understand that the only genuine reasons behind it are fun, tradition and simple tribalism," Brimson said. "As a consequence, they try to apply rational thinking to what is a totally irrational past time which adds to the mystery, the attraction and the continuance. Yet in reality, the notion that all hooligans are racist morons is as stupid as saying that everyone in the U.S. is a potential mass murderer."

With supporter groups growing in size among MLS teams, and rivalries becoming more heated, should we expect an American hooligan moment? Los Angeles Galaxy fans were ejected en masse during a game at the Earthquakes' Buck Shaw stadium last season after trouble flared.

MLS execs must worry that a more serious incident could occur. It seems unlikely, but mixing loyalty, colors and territory is combustible, especially in soccer.